| Title: | Evaluation of drought implications on ecosystem services: Freshwater provisioning and food provisioning in the Upper Mississippi River Basin |
| Authors: | Li, P., N. Omani, I. Chaubey and X. Wei |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Journal: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
| Volume (Issue): | 14(5) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 496 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph14050496 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic and pollutant |
| Primary Application Category: | drought assessment |
| Secondary Application Category: | hydrologic and/or pollutant indices |
| Watershed Description: | 492,000 km^2 Upper Mississippi River, which drains large portions of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin, and small portions of South Dakota and Michigan in the north central U.S. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | Drought is one of the most widespread extreme climate events with a potential to alter
freshwater availability and related ecosystem services. Given the interconnectedness between
freshwater availability and many ecosystem services, including food provisioning, it is important
to evaluate the drought implications on freshwater provisioning and food provisioning services.
Studies about drought implications on streamflow, nutrient loads, and crop yields have been
increased and these variables are all process-based model outputs that could represent ecosystem
functions that contribute to the ecosystem services. However, few studies evaluate drought effects
on ecosystem services such as freshwater and food provisioning and quantify these services using
an index-based ecosystem service approach. In this study, the drought implications on freshwater
and food provisioning services were evaluated for 14 four-digit HUC (Hydrological Unit Codes)
subbasins in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB), using three drought indices: standardized
precipitation index (SPI), standardized soil water content index (SSWI), and standardized streamflow
index (SSI). The results showed that the seasonal freshwater provisioning was highly affected by the
precipitation deficits and/or surpluses in summer and autumn. A greater importance of hydrological
drought than meteorological drought implications on freshwater provisioning was evident for the
majority of the subbasins, as evidenced by higher correlations between freshwater provisioning and
SSI12 than SPI12. Food provisioning was substantially affected by the precipitation and soil water
deficits during summer and early autumn, with relatively less effect observed in winter. A greater
importance of agricultural drought effects on food provisioning was evident for most of the subbasins
during crop reproductive stages. Results from this study may provide insights to help make effective
land management decisions in responding to extreme climate conditions in order to protect and
restore freshwater provisioning and food provisioning services in the UMRB. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | drought; ecosystem services; Upper Mississippi River Basin; Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) |